According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the temblor struck 85 miles northeast of Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, followed by aftershocks registering 5.1 and 5.6 on the Richter scale. There was no tsunami alert afterward. More:

"There were no immediate reports of damage from the quake which was felt with a moderate intensity in Tongatapu and Ha'apai.

The quake was felt at at 01.47:16 am local time [Wednesday] in Tonga.

The quake woke residents in Nuku'alofa and in Pangai, some of whom ran outside. There were no immediate reports of damage. Dogs barked while houses and shelves rattled for a few seconds."

The initial alarm upon hearing the news is understandable, though: That side of the world, of course, is notorious for its seismic activity, as the geographic pattern of the world's worst earthquakes in history tells us.

(Location map: U.S. Geological Survey)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is banking on a Mideast solution from the White House, and not a fresh wave of violence against the Jewish state, to get the peace process on the road again. More:

"The Palestinian people will not launch a new intifada against Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday night, referring to concerns that long-stalled negotiations and rising tensions would pave the way to a new popular uprising in the Palestinian population.

'We've suffered enough,' he said of the path of armed struggle. 'The Palestinian people are focused only on the path of peace, through negotiations.'

Speaking in Argentina after a meeting with President Cristina Fernandez, Abbas repeated his demand that Israel freeze all construction beyond the green line, including that which is intended for 'natural growth.'

'What we demand is in the road map,' he said, referring to a US plan for peace in the Middle East. 'This is what [US President] Barack Obama said when he visited Cairo.'"

Considering that one of the barriers to a Mideast peace process is the Palestinian Authority divide between West Bank rulers Fatah and Gaza rulers Hamas, though, there are few guarantees that new violence against Israel won't erupt, if indeed Abbas is being candid about his intentions.

(Photo by Omar Rashidi/PPO via Getty Images)

Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy was unanimously selected today to be the first permanent, full-time president of the European Council, after the UK said it was no longer pushing for former Prime Minister Tony Blair to get the post. Instead, the other top post created by the Lisbon Treaty - High Representative for Foreign Affairs - went to the UK's EU Trade Commissioner, Baroness Catherine Ashton. More from the BBC:

"Mr Van Rompuy, 62, had crucial French and German support. He has a reputation as a coalition builder, having taken charge of the linguistically divided Belgian government and steered it out of a crisis.

'Every country should emerge victorious from negotiations,' he told a news conference after his appointment.

'Even if unity remains our strength, our diversity remains our wealth,' he said, stressing the individuality of EU member states.

...The idea under Lisbon is to give the EU more coherence and continuity in key policy areas. Up until now the presidency has been held by member states in turn, on a six-month rotation."

The pair begin their new jobs on Dec. 1. BBC has profiles of Van Rompuy and the baroness here.

(Photo by Mark Renders/Getty Images)

Their reasoning goes like so: less reproduction, fewer people, less climate change. More:

"The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

The agency did not recommend countries set limits on how many children people should have, but said: 'Women with access to reproductive health services ... have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth in greenhouse gas emissions.'

'As the growth of population, economies and consumption outpaces the Earth's capacity to adjust, climate change could become much more extreme and conceivably catastrophic,' the report said.

The world's population will likely rise from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050, with most of the growth in less developed regions, according to a 2006 report by the United Nations.

The U.N. Population Fund acknowledged it had no proof of the effect that population control would have on climate change. 'The linkages between population and climate change are in most cases complex and indirect,' the report said."

It's a good thing it didn't get into countries limiting how many children people can have, because that wanders -- a la China -- into some serious human-rights issues.

(Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)